Dust-cap construction



. A. E. BRONSON DUST CAP CONSTRUCTION Fild Feb. 18. 1920 It 2) 6767 v mwm Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED "STAT Es PATENT OFFICE] ADELBERT E. nnonson, or otnvnrAn'n, oH-Io, ASSIGNOR TO THE nrrn MANUFAC- TUBING, conrnnmor CLEVELAND, OHIO, ACORPORATION or onto, 1

1 DUST-CAP oons'raucrron.

Application filed 'February 18, 1920. Serial No. 359,746.

This invention relates to a dust cap construction which carries as apart thereof, and mounted within the same, a member which forms a capfor the end of a tire valve stem, and also serves as an attaching member whereby the cap and valve stem are secured to each other when thedust cap is slipped over the valve stem. 1

The invention further contemplates the construction of the cap in such amanner as to carry screw-driver provisions which theair valve within thevalve stem may manipulated. I Reference should be had to theaccompanying drawings'forming a part of this specification, in'whichFig. 1 is an elevation with portions in section showing a dust cap ofthe invention applied to a valve stem; and Fig. 2 is a section throughFig. 1 ,on the lime-2.

The present practice with respect to the use of protectlng capsfol-pneumatic tire Valve stems is to provide a small cap having athreaded interior portion which screws upon the threaded end of a valvestem. This cap is made to have a projecting portion having extensionswhich are in the art denoted as screwdriver provisions, their functionbeing to engagewith a proper por 0 tion of the valve within thevalve-stem for the purpose of removing or inserting a valve within thestem, and thisoperation is accomplished "by merely "removing theaforesaid cap and reversing-its position, that is to say, inserting thescrew-driver provision portion within the open end of the valve stem.

It is customary to provide a-dust cap which has a long tubular shellmember threaded adjacent one end thereof in such a fashion as to engagethe threads upon the outer portion of the valve stem so that the dustcapmay be turned upon the valve stem into engagement with the usual rim nutwhich is also mounted upon the valve stem.

In the present invention it is proposed to combine the dust cap and thevalve cap into one structure thereby eliminating one of the usual partsemployed, and furthermore, to utilize the member of the combina- 0 tionwhich has the function of a valve cap to have the additional function ofserving to secure the shell of the dust cap upon the valve stem.

The provision of the construction which has just been describedaccomplishes not only the results which have been mentioned, butaccon-iplishes the. additional result of providing a dust cap shellwhichmaybe quickly attached and detached from the valve stem, requiringmerely a few turns to secure a threaded engagement as againstthep-resen-t practice which requires screwing the shell of'the'dust capalong the entire ex osed portion of the valvestem.

e'ferring to the drawings, 1- indicates a valve stem ofusual-construction which is threaded upon its outer surface. -2indicates the end of the usual valve stem which is somewhat reduced indiameter with 'r-espect to the other portion of the valve stem. Whilenot indicated in the drawings, it will be understoodthat within thevalve stem there will be placed the usual or desiredtype of air valve. Arim nut 3 of usual construe tion is threaded upon the valve stem andperforms its usual function.

At 4 is indicated the shell or casing of a dust cap. This is preferably,although not necessarily, made by a drawing process from a blank ofsheet metal, and'has an'open end indicatedatS and a closed end indicatedat '6." Within the shell 4 is'a member 7. This member has a very closefrictional contact with the inner wall of the shell 4;, t-heconstruction-being such'that the member 7 may be moved longitudinallywithin the shell, but in doing this the frictional engage ment betweenthe outer surface of the memher 7 and the wall of the shell 4 must beovercome, and under normal conditions, when forceis notapplied,theinenrber 7 will immovably occupy that posit-ionwithin theshell t-to which it has ;*be'en adjusted.

The ineinber 7'has .a threaded recess'B, and this recess at the upperend thereof is provided with a gasket or packing such as indicated at 9,and is adapted to engage with the end of the valve stem when-the member7 is attached to the end of the valve stem.

In the present drawing, the shell 4 is shown with a portion thereofformed with angular sides, (see Fig. 2) and the member 7 is formed withsides complementary to the sides of the shell, and in the constructionshown, the member 7 is non-rotatable with respect to the shell 4. Thisis a desirable construction, but should beconsidered only asillustrative of any means to prevent relative zrotation between theshell and the member At the end of the shell 6, an extending member 10is provided, which at its outer end is slotted, as indicated at 11,thereby forming screw-driver provisions of a form and size required tomanipulate the air valve within the valve stem 1.

The lower end of the shell 4 is somewhat restricted, as indicated at 4thereby forming a shoulder, and by so much limiting the outer positionof the member 7 with respect to the shell 4.

As will be at once apparentfrom the construction which has beendescribed, the shell 4 with its enclosed member 7 may be removed fromthe valve stem by giving the shell 4 a sufficient number of turns tounscrew the member 7 from its engagement with the end of the valve stem.At the most, but a few threads need be engaged so that the shell 4 maybe very quickly detached from the valve stem.

The detaching operation which has just been described, not only removesthe dust cap shell, but simultaneously exposes the open end of the valvestem so that the pump may be applied, or if necessary, the valve withinthe shell removed or adjusted, without the usual extra operation ofremoving the valve cap.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A cap for valve stems and the like comprising a shell to cover thevalve stem, a member within the shell which is capable of being movedwith respect to the shell but has close frictional contact with thewalls of the shell and is retained in a given position within the shellby said frictional contact, said member having a recessed portionadapted to cooperate with the end of a valve stem to close the endthereof and to engage the stem to hold the shell upon the stem.

2. A dust cap for valve stems and the like comprising a shell to coverthe valve stem, a member within the shell which is capable of beingmoved with respect to the shell but has close frictional contact withthe walls of the shell and is retained in a given position within theshell by said frictional contact, said member having a recessed portionadapted to have threaded engagement with the end of a valve stem therebyto close the end of a valve stem and to secure the shell to the valvestem.

3. A dust cap for valve stems and the like comprising a shell to coverthe valve stem, a member non-rotatabl mounted with respect to the shelland within the shell which is capable of being moved with respect to theshell but has close frictional contact with the walls of the shell andis retained in a given position within the shell by said frictionalcontact, said member having a recessed portion adapted to co-operatewith the end of a valve stem to close the end thereof and engage thesame to secure the shell to the valve stem.

4. A dust cap for valve stems and the like comprising a shell to coverthe valve stem, a member non-rotatably mounted with respect to the shelland within the shell which is capable of being moved with respect to theshell but has close frictional contact with the walls of the shell andis retained in a given position within the shell by said frictionalcontact, said member having a recessed portion adapted to have threadedengagement with the end of a valve stem to close the end of the same andto secure the shell to the valve stem.

5. A dust cap for valve stems and the like comprising a shell to coverthe valve stem, a member within the shell, which is capable of beingmoved with respect to the shell but has close frictional contact withthe walls of the shell and is retained in a given position within theshell by said frictional contact, said member having a recessed portionwhich is closed at one end, a packing member at the closed end of saidrecess, said member adapted to have a threaded engagement with the endof a valve stem to close the end of the valve stem and to secure theshell to the valve stem.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

ADELBERT E. BRONSON.

